System and method for internet access to a personal television service

Abstract

A communication system and a family of methods for remote access to personal television service are disclosed. According to this invention, a remote personal TV service center provides centralized program guide information. A user may access to the personal TV service center through a digital video recorder which is connected to the personal TV service center via telephone modem or a network server. A user may access to the personal TV service center through a remote computer terminal or a personal digital assistant which is connected to a computer network. The user selects program events and programs the digital video recorder by using a graphical user interface installed in the front panel of the digital video recorder in case of local programming, or using a similar GUI which is incorporated into the Web pages presented to remote users by a Web server in case of remote programming. The media stream stored in one digital video recorder may be transferred to another digital video recorder. For data security protection during data transfer, all communication are authenticated and encrypted.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical FieldThe invention relates to personal television service. More particularly, the invention relates to a communication system and methods for remote access to centralized personal television service via direct telephone connection or indirect network connection.2. Description of the Prior ArtWith the advent of videocassette recorders (VCRs), TV viewers are able to record TV program events that are broadcasted in a given time slot and playback the recorded program content later. During the recording, a VCR changes the electrical signals of a program content into magnetic signals and stores the magnetic signals on magnetic tape. When playing back, the VCR changes magnetic signals into electrical signals and the attached TV set displays the program content of the signals on its screen.With the development of digital technology, the VCRs are being superseded by digital video recorders (DVRs). Like a VCR, the functionality of a DVR is to record bro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

To use the personal TV service more efficiently, two or more DVRs may be connected, either by direct connection or over a network such as the Internet, so that recorded media stream may be transferred from one DVR to another.

Problems solved by technology

Although the DVR enables users to specify the recording time, channel, and duration for a plurality of events, it cannot meet the increasing needs in defining and capturing the program events in a more intelligent way.

For instance, in situations where a user cannot find a TV program guide or he is far away from his DVR and TV set, he will be unable to program his DVR and record the program events that he likes.

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